A blood-stained shoe of a victim lies on the ground at the site of a grenade attack on a crowded movie theatre that killed and wounded many people in Peshawar, Pakistan. Photo: AP

It happened a week after the Picture House, another local cinema, was attacked in the same way, killing four people. And it coincided with a second round of peace talks between the Taliban and the Pakistani government.

Ijaz Khan, Peshawar's police chief, said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan umbrella group denied responsibility - as they denied the earlier attack - but it will nevertheless fuel scepticism about the talks' chances of success.

Akbar Khan, 62, whose left arm and left thigh were hurt, said a deafening blast had rocked the auditorium.

"It seemed like a hot iron rod pierced through my left arm and leg as I was hit by ball bearings," he said.

Advertisement

Pakistan may translate as the "land of the pure", where Sharia is incorporated into everyday law, alcohol is banned and most women do not leave the house with their faces uncovered, but Peshawar's last pornographic cinema had struggled on despite a number of threats.

It shows popular Bollywood hits made in Lahore, Pakistan's film capital. One screen was reserved for pornographic films, or "sexy movies" as an usher had told London's Telegraph during a recent visit to the cinema.

You will now receive updates fromBreaking News Alert

Breaking News Alert

The manager of the Shama cinema declined to be interviewed, but a member of staff had explained that American and British pornography was often shown after being dubbed into Pashto.

He said two other cinemas had been forced to stop showing pornography after pressure from extremists.

The city lies on the main route from Pakistan through the Khyber Pass to Afghanistan, and militants roam the surrounding mountainous tribal areas.

Leaflets distributed to mobile phone shops last year ordered an end to sales of ringtones and video clips. Peshawar once had a thriving film industry, known as Pollywood, but now its cinemas show pictures largely made in Lahore.

Even its mainstream films have a reputation for vulgarity, featuring young women in tight-fitting clothes dancing with older male heroes.

Only nine cinemas remain. Two were destroyed in 2012 during protests against trailers for a film about the life of the Prophet Mohammed.

Critics of the cinema's pornography claimed it was sensationalism used to attract visitors.

Jehan Shah, a film director and cultural expert, said Pashto-language cinema had never reflected the norms or culture of society in the north-west of Pakistan. "Maybe the state allowed it as a safety valve, a way to keep the masses busy with something that titillates them," he said.

A customer at the cinema, who declined to give his name, previously said he saw no contradiction in screening pornography in the north-west of Pakistan, a region known for its conservative values. "These are not Pashtun women," he said. "These are Punjabi."